NaNoWriMo and the art of writing
National Novel Writing Month is officially upon us.
For those who accept the challenge, it is a stressful and fun 30 days to write 50,000 words. The site offers forums, meet-ups, word counters, and updates on NaNoWriMo news to keep participants motivated.
I have never won the challenge, but I expect to this year. I’ve already started writing my novel. It’s a chick lit zombie romance involving a young expert on Voudou, her mother, her ex boyfriend, and her new romance. There will be a zombie baby AND a zombie cat.
Last year, I got stuck writing a drama about a young, rich author whose privileged upbringing was holding her back. Surprisingly enough, the word count for part of my novel last year was more than for the novel I started afterwards. I’m about to finish the first draft; the word count will be a bit shy of 20,000 words. It will be my first completed novel first draft, which I’m excited about.
So, here’s a question for everyone out there: do competitions help art by getting people working creatively, or do they hurt art by focusing on quantity over quality?
Contest Update My contest is now over. I will be announcing the winners on Friday, which is tomorrow, and sending out the prize in the mail on Monday, when I send out a few other packages.
Other NaNoWriMoers Over at Fiction Scribe, there is 13 ways to start your NaNo and at The Book Stacks 13 books to help you with NaNoWriMo or NaNoBloMo. At The Poisoned Apple, the word count is already over 2,000. And, I don’t think Thomas Kingsley Troupe of Tappity Tappity will be participated, but I like reading about authors, and he just finished his last novel in 31 days, so he obviously doesn’t need the inspiration NaNoWriMo gives to the rest of us.

November 12th, 2007 at 11:44 am
[...] ** If you are a habitual writer and feel the need to express that, then become a member of NaNoWriMo… [...]
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
[...] procrastination by Wendy Withers NaNoWriMo crashed and burned for me this year. While I typed out a few of my best writing scenes, they were [...]